Help clean up Victoria Road Beach, Formby and turn the tide on marine litter

Local Marine Conservation Society volunteers need your help to ensure local beaches remain clean and safe for all Victoria Road Beach, Formby will be receiving a thorough clean on Monday 15th of April as part of Beachwatch, the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) beach clean and litter survey programme.

The programme aims to highlight the issues of beach litter around the UK’s coastline. Beachwatch events not only spruce up hundreds of beaches around the coast, but volunteers also record the litter they find, and it’s this aspect that has really helped MCS change policy and behaviours over the last quarter of a century.

Andy Laverick, from Formby, is organising the Victoria Road Beach clean-up. He’s been running a beach cleans at the National Trust property since 2012: “I would like to see more volunteers than ever before lend a hand to make this latest clean the biggest yet. The event is more than just a beach clean – it’s also a fun and informative social occasion.”

Andy Laverick says the tide of litter washing up on our shores is not just unpleasant to look at but can harm and even kill some of our best-loved marine wildlife: “Over 170 species including seabirds, turtles and whales have mistaken marine litter for food and actually eaten it, which in many cases has resulted in starvation, poisoning and ultimately a slow, painful death.

“Plastic packaging and discarded fishing nets also injure entangle and drown some of Britain’s favourite marine animals, including seals and dolphins.” MCS beach clean surveys have recorded a steady increase in the amount of beach litter since 1993. The four main sources of litter found on UK beaches come from the public, fishing, sanitary waste (particularly cotton bud sticks) and shipping.

Join Andy at Victoria Road Beach, Formby on Monday 15th of April, at 10:00am and take part in an event that will not only make the beach look great for visitors, but will also help MCS identify where the litter comes and try to stop it at source. Registered Charity Number (England and Wales) 1004005 Registered Charity Number (Scotland) SC037480

Volunteers can register online at https://www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch or they can contact Andy at: greatbritishbeachcleanformby@yahoo.com